This invention relates to apparatus for fastening a tube, for example a catheter, to a patient's body.
Medical personnel have a problem in taping urethral, abdominal, and chest drainage tubes to a patient's skin. If a tube is not taped to the skin, an accidental yank is directly transmitted to the urethra or skin stitches which causes patient discomfort. Rarely do medical personnel have the skill to make a proper mesentery using ordinary hospital self adhesive tape for holding a catheter or tube to the skin. When the personnel have sufficient skill, such ordinary tape does not work well since it is too pliable and pulls off the skin too easily.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,826,254 there is disclosed a needle or catheter retaining appliance that includes a pad having a first section with a self adhesive layer for adhering to a patient's body and a second section adapted to be folded over the first section to hold a tube therebetween, the adjacent surfaces of the first and second sections each having a self adhesive layer.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,834,380 discloses a strip of tape having pressure sensitive adhesive and a slit clamping tube molded integral with the tape on the side opposite the adhesive. Latching means may be provided to retain items on the clamping tube. The latching means includes a latching flap adhesively secured to one side of the clamping tube to be folded thereover and having a pad to interlock with a pad attached to the tape.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,696,920 and 3,630,195 disclose grooved blocks for holding tubing, a layer of adhesive being provided for retaining the block on a patient.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,165,748 there is disclosed a catheter tube holder made of a single piece having one side covered with a pressure sensitive adhesive and has a central bridge portion adapted to be wrapped around the tube with a nonadhesive surface abutting against the tube. Snaps or adhesive spots are provided to hold the bridge portion folded as shown in FIG. 2 of the patent, but permit separation of the spots so that the tube can be removed without removing the end portions of the holder from the patient's body.